Doctor, Are There Any Other Cereals Used For Making Bread?

"Not to any extent. Buckwheat is used for making pancakes and oatmeal for crackers. In the tropical regions, there are fruits that are used for bread, but a discussion of these would be of no practical value. The cereal of the greatest food value next to wheat and corn, or perhaps second to wheat only, is oats."

I Notice That Some People Can't Praise Oatmeal Too Highly, While Others Condemn It. Perhaps You Can Clear Up And Explain These Differences?

"I think I can. Its food value has, so far as I know, never been overestimated."

How Is It Then That There Is Such A Conflict Of Opinion About It?

"I can explain that. Oatmeal has a rough coat, and there is an occasional person whose membranes are so sensitive they cannot eat any food that has any irritating waste matter. The bran in any cereal either corn, wheat or oats, irritates the lining membranes of the digestive organs and causes such persons to have diarrhoea, although as a matter of fact, most diarrhoes come from constipation."

Is There Any Was Of Overcoming The Difficulty?

"Only partially so. The oatmeal when thoroughly cooked, can be easily strained, though this will seldom be required except for young children, because most people need more bran or other waste substance than they get."

"But it is said that oatmeal is pasty and sticks to the stomach and is therefore hard to digest."

"It is rather difficult to get any substance whatever to stick to the stomach, so the trouble is not there."

Where Is It Then?

"There are two difficulties. The greater one is that oatmeal is seldom cooked half enough and most frequently not more than one tenth enough."

Surely, You Must Be Exaggerating, Doctor. The Cooks Of The Country Know More Than That, Don't They?

"One would naturally think so, but they do not. The principles of cooking have never been given much, if any attention. It has always been merely an accidental routine or a striving to please the sense of taste. Most cooks merely bring food, water and fat in contact with heat, without much thought about results. It may be palatable but most likely indigestible. There is a more intelligent class who strive to make food palatable without much regard as to whether or not those who eat it will need the services of a doctor."

"But all you have said may be very true, but that doesn't explain why so much cooking is necessary."

"I have already stated that the cereals contain more starch than anything else. The starch is incased in tough cellulose sacks, or cells and they must be cooked enough to burst them. This requires considerable time."

I suppose that the partly cooked preparation of oats could be cooked in a few minutes; at least, that's the general impression.

If This Is A Mistake, I Will Venture To Ask How Much Time Is Really Necessary For Proper Cook-Ing?

"The so-called steel cut oats require at least three hours cooking, while the rolled oats should not receive less than one hour, considerably more will add to its digestibility."

But Some People Say They Don't Like It That Way. What Say You To Those?

"That is largely a matter of habit. However, we ought not to be governed merely by what we like, for we might like what our reason would teach us was sure death, which we see exemplified every day."

"But it is urged that it gets too thick when cooked a longtime."

"That Can Be Obviated By Adding Plenty Of Water."

What Do You Call Plenty Of Water, A Measure Of Oatmeal With An Equal Amount Of Water?

"That's a common way of cooking it, and if it cooks too dry, which it is certain to do, they usually add more water; perhaps repeating the same operation several times, and then when it is served, you are very likely to say that you don't care for it, that it is not a palatable dish."

What's Wrong With The Method Just Described And How Much Water Does It Take?

"Oatmeal or rolled oats, is usually cooked in a double vessel, the inner vessel floating in water. The quantity of water depends upon the weight of the oatmeal, whether it be loose or packed, and also whether the vessel containing it is open or tightly covered. If the vessel in which the meal is cooked is covered so that no steam escapes, it will ordinarily be sufficient to add three measures of water to each measure of oatmeal. If the vessel be open and the atmosphere dry, considerable more than three times as much water as oatmeal should be used and always enough to cook it thoroughly without adding any additional water after it begins to cook."

"You haven't said anything about whether hot or cold water should be used."

"The cooks disagree on that point. If hot water be used, the oat flavor is stronger but much more care is required in making. If the oats is not sifted in the hot water very carefully, it is liable to be lumpy. It cooks more thoroughly in cold water, and this method is preferable from a standpoint of digestibility although there is no great difference."

But Why Is Cold Water Better Than Hot?

"As already explained, the starch cells must be ruptured in cooking and they will absorb water more readily if cold water be used and the heat gradually applied."

Is That The Only Reason For Cooking It So Long?

"No. Intense heat applied to starch of any kind changes its chemical nature; in fact, it partly digests it."

Doctor, I Suppose That If Oatmeal Or Rolled Oats Was Prepared As You Have Directed, It Would Agree With Everybody Except Those Who Are Unable To Eat Any Coarse Food At All?

"You are wrong. It may be perfectly cooked and still disagree - depends on how it is eaten and something on the pecularity of the individual."